Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic

Amazingly tender chicken covered in garlic sauce. 

This recipe was another one from my new Gourmet cookbook--I'd been thinking about it for awhile. It was first published in Gourmet in 1967, and has been sort of a retro classic in the US ever since. I modified the recipe slightly to make it easier (no bouquet garni, no browning the whole chicken ahead of time).

I'd never cooked a chicken this way--essentially a slow semi-braise of the whole bird on the bone, then quickly broiled right at the end for crisp skin and color.

As the name implies--there are literally 40 cloves of garlic in this recipe (or more, I never count things). Two or three large handfuls of whole garlic cloves. Yet it doesn't taste remotely sharp or garlicky--it's very mellow, balanced, silky and rich. 

The chicken cooks very slowly in a covered pot--the garlic mellows and softens and sweetens and cooks gently in the chicken fat. You essentially make an on-the-bone chicken confit and loads of garlic confit all together at once. 

The chicken could be carved off the bone with a spoon--it's insanely tender, with crisp golden skin. You smother the chicken with the rich, lovely, garlic gravy. This was a perfect, satisfying Sunday night dinner. I made some bread and salad to go with the chicken--totally perfect. 

Not to mention--the ingredients for this added up to about eight dollars (chicken was on sale) plus seven for the wine ( Yellowtail is fine with me). 

Lovely end to the weekend. 

Ingredients 

1 whole chicken

40 cloves of garlic (specifics are unimportant--a few handfuls of garlic cloves) 

2 springs of rosemary

1 lemon 

2 carrots

1 rib of celery

2 bay leaves 

1 cup white wine 

salt and pepper 

What to do 

Pat your chicken completely dry with paper towels. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper. Set aside. 

Place carrots, celery, one of the rosemary sprigs and 10 of the garlic cloves into the food processor and pulse into a coarse grind. 

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

This recipe calls for no chopping!

Then, place the chopped veggies into the bottom on your dutch oven or roasting pan. Add the bay leaves.

Stuff about ten garlic cloves into the chicken cavity. Cut a lemon in half--add the half lemon the the cavity, then truss the chicken (tie its legs together with kitchen twine). 

Full frontal chicken porn. 

Place the trussed chicken on the chopped veggies, and scatter the rest of the garlic cloves (leave them whole) and add the remaining rosemary sprig and half lemon. I also added the chicken neck to the pot for extra flavor.

Cover the pot and place into the 250 degree oven. Slowly bake, basting occasionally, for five hours. 

Carefully remove the chicken from the pot (it will be nearly falling apart) and place on a cookie sheet. Set aside.

Skim the fat off the liquid left in the pan. Use a potato masher to smash the garlic cloves. Add the cup of wine and reduce, whisking regularly, over high heat until the consistency of gravy. Taste for salt. 

Crank the heat up to 550. Put the chicken back into the over and roast until golden brown and crisp all over. 

Golden and falling off the bone. 

Pour the sauce over the whole chicken, and serve extra on the side. Carve the chicken, or just pull pieces straight off. 

This was delicious. I can't recommend it enough!

Enjoy

Slow Braised Leg of Lamb with Greek Salad, Raita, and Whole-Wheat Flatbread

Lamb, raita, Greek salad, and whole-wheat flatbread.  

Boneless lamb roast resting before carving. 

This fantastic combination of tender, flavorful lamb, refreshing raita, crisp, fresh salad and warm homemade flat bread isn't an easy weeknight dinner. It should be saved for a special occasion, and only undertaken if you're the kind of person who loves the process of cooking nearly as much as you adore the pleasure of eating at home.

In retrospect, I ought to have left this for a Sunday, but it was a really special occasion--the finale of The Bachelor! For the last couple years, some coworkers and my sister and I have gathered every Tuesday to mock the worst television event in America, drink wine and hang out. This is a great opportunity for me to practice my favorite pastime--cooking for a crowd.
Right after Christmas, I was in the grocery store and saw enormous legs of American lamb, reduced to scandalously low prices. A 13-lb leg was a mere sixteen dollars (the last, smaller one I bought was $80, albeit from Oliver's, who sells high-quality local meat). I couldn't pass up the bargain--I bought it and waited for an special occasion like the finale of a TV show that is everything wrong with America.
I decided to do a boneless, braised / slow roasted preparation for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the bone-in leg wouldn't fit into my biggest roasting pot. Secondly, even though I usually prefer a medium-rare preparation on any lamb (such as here), this lamb had dark-red flesh and was unusually large, so my guess was this was an older lamb. It's meat would be distinctly gamy. Having been frozen for months wouldn't help the flavor and texture, either. So braising in wine would tenderize the meat, and smearing the roast with copious garlic, rosemary and lemon zest would counteract the gaminess.
Seeing as the lamb came on the bone, my first step was to butterfly it--myself. I watched a few youtube videos, then started hacking away.
I based the rest of general cooking background knowledge and how I personally like lamb to taste. I didn't follow a recipe, so this post doesn't read like one.

Messily home-butterflied lamb

Then, I chopped a head and a half of garlic, four sprigs of rosemary, the zest of two lemons, and some salt and black pepper.

Rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and lemon zest. 

Then, I rubbed half of this onto the inside of the leg, then rolled it up, and rubbed the other half onto the outside. 

Then, I placed this into my dutch oven, poured half a bottle of chardonnay around the outside, and covered it. I cooked it at 225 degrees for six hours. 

This is not going to be done for six more hours, and lamb, though it cooks best in white, really eats best with red. Feel free to enjoy the rest of that bottle while you clean the lamb viscera off your kitchen ceiling. 

Then, I removed it, cranked the heat up to 550, and blasted it for about 10 minutes to get a crisp, bronze finish on the outer layer of fat. 

Roasty-toasty brown and smelling phenomenal. 

 Crunchy burnished fat crust

I then allowed the lamb to rest for 25 minutes. During that time, I took all the liquid that had accumulated in the pot while the lamb was cooking. I skimmed as much fat off the top as I could (there was quite a bit--lambs are fatty), then I pour the liquid into a sauce pan, put it over the gas, and let it boil and boil to reduce. 

I spooned a bit of the reduction over the resting lamb to make it glossy and juicy-looking, then put it in a bowl for people to spoon over their meat as they served themselves. 

To go with this, I made whole-wheat flatbreads (I cooked on our cast-iron, stovetop grill), cucumber mint raita, and Greek salad. 

Greek salad.

To make the Greek salad, I combined two clamshells of little red grape tomatoes (the only tomatoes that tasted good this time of year), two cucumbers chopped into rough chunks, two chopped red onions, a quarter cup of drained capers, a few tablespoons red wine vinegar, and a quarter-ish cup of olive oil, some black pepper, then mixed everything together. 

This was a FABULOUS DINNER

Soon it will be Easter, and soon after that, you too can find a discount leg of lamb in your neighborhood Albertson's or Safeway's. I cannot recommend this "recipe" enough--it is fantastic. 

Enjoy!

Massaman Chicken Curry

A bowl of sweet, creamy, spicy, peanut-studded, herb-topped perfection.

Sometimes, around Denver or in the ski towns, one sees restaurants advertising themselves as "Colorado Cuisine." Generally these fall into three categories.
1. 'Colorado-style' pizza. 
I'm from California, where there also exists a bullshit regional pizza style--'California pizza' sometimes has avocados and grilled chicken breast on it. Or pesto and shrimp.
So Californians have no legitimacy when criticizing another region's pizza. But I'll say it: California-style and Colorado-style pizza both suck. From what I can tell, Colorado pizza means it has a thick, bread-y crust and a soggy, saucy middle, and you're meant to pour honey over the leftover crust and eat it as dessert.
Not a fan.
2. Anything smothered in pork green chili.
I have no idea why all burritos purchased in this state come covered in gray-green, not-spicy, slightly viscous sauce. Why do you want your burrito soaking wet?
3. "Colorado Cuisine".
These restaurants tend to be more expensive. Usually this means there is Colorado lamb and trout on the menu, bison steaks, and various food that connotes the mountains, like juniper berries. These restaurants seem more like a gimmick---the flavors are more about the theory than the taste, and nobody eats this way at home. You see restaurants like this near the gondolas at Vail or Beaver Creek, catering to rich gapers from Dallas.

So as far as I'm concerned, there is no existing definition of Colorado cuisine worth respecting. Thus, I think I have as much claim as anyone to define it myself.

So, in my opinion, true Colorado cuisine must meet two criteria--
a. Something you'd want to eat in a blizzard. Warm, hearty comfort food.
b. Something you'd want to eat when you're really high

That's it!

A wide range of things would qualify---French-style wine-braised short ribs, chorizo black bean soup, shrimp etouffee over rice, etc. Something delicious, comforting, unpretentious. What you want to share with the people in your ski house and eat in your socks and thermals, while everyone is utterly and legally stoned.

Well, this massaman curry is a shining example of the genre. Very rich and sweet from the coconut milk, salty and funky with fish sauce, a slight burn from chilies. The sauce is studded with crunchy peanuts, and the potatoes soak up the sauce, becoming soft and lush and completely, totally delicious.

I got this recipe from BonAppetit, but altered it. My version is certain to be better--theirs, egregiously, omitted peanuts.

This is so, so fabulous.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
• Kosher salt
• 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1½ lb.), cut into smallish pieces 
• 2 medium red onions, chopped into large pieces
• 4 large carrots, chopped
• ¾ cup Massaman Curry Paste (click for recipe)
• 12 oz. Belgian-style wheat beer
• 3 13.5-oz. cans unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or water)
• ½ cup fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
• ¼ cup fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons palm or light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 hot chilies (I used thai chilies, but any kind is fine. Or you could use chili oil or chili powder)
• 3/4 cup whole unsalted roasted peanuts
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Cilantro, scallions, and cooked rice (for serving)

• Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and cook in batches until golden brown (do not turn), 8–10 minutes.
• Add onion, carrot, chilis, and potatoes to the pot. Cook for about 5 minutes (everything will simmer to doneness once the liquid has been added, so things don't need to be cooked through now)
• Add curry paste to pot and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add beer. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until reduced by half, 5–7 minutes. Add coconut milk, peanuts, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is very tender and potatoes are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat and mix in fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, and soy sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning. Top with cilantro and scallions. Serve with rice.

Vietnamese Noodle Salad

Sweet, tangy, spicy, funky, salty, delicious.  

Walking the dogs the other night, I happened across my new favorite book store--the Book Mall on South Broadway. The owner gave Tato and Swaysway dog treats and had an encyclopedic knowledge of everything written, ever. So many used book stores are full of faded Joyce Carrol Oates and The ButterBusters Cookbook and other worthless crap. But the Book Mall is totally different--on every shelf, there is something you've been meaning to read.

And the cookbook section was phenomenal. There were half a dozen I really wanted, but I settled on The Gourmet cookbook: 

This cookbook contains the top 1000 or so recipes from the whole history of Gourmet magazine. The recipes come with the back stories about the context of American cooking in which they first appeared. It's super entertaining to read page by page, like a novel, and there are so many things I am dying to make. 

After reading it once through the first time, the recipe that stuck in my mind was the Lemongrass Beef and Noodle Salad. 

This recipe originally appeared in Gourmet in 1995, when people first started using formerly obscure Asian ingredients in mainstream cooking. 

This was the first time I've used Vietnamese fish sauce--I've used Thai fish sauce for years, but not Vietnamese. And it is DELICIOUS. The nuac cham dressing TO DIE FOR.

My new magic ingredient. 

I mean, you could sprinkle chopped basil and cilantro and mint and crushed peanuts on anything and it would be fabulous. But this salad is just wonderful. 
They didn't have beef at the Asian market, so I used pork. But would probably have been better with beef, so I included the original recipe. 
The lemongrass marinade is also fantastic. It would be perfect on any grilled meat--beef or chicken or pork or fish. 

This recipe would be great without meat, too. 

I served this for Bachelor Night, where it was an unmitigated hit. 

I also made some stir-fried shitakes with eggplant to go with it. 

This is delicious. Make it immediately!
Enjoy!

Grilled Lemongrass Beef and Noodle SaladGourmet | June 1995

Serves 4 as an entrée

ingredients

For marinade

• 2 stalks fresh lemongrass, outer leaves discarded and root end trimmed
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (preferably nuoc mam)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

• a 1- to-1 1/4 pound skirt steak or flank steak
• 1/2 pound dried rice-stick noodles (rice vermicelli)
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (preferably Thai basil), washed well and spun dry
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, washed well and spun dry
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves, washed well and spun dry
• about 1 cup Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese lime sauce) (see below)
• a 1-pound seedless (European) cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 2 to 4 small thin fresh red or green Asian chilies (1 to 2 inches long) or serrano chilies, seeded and sliced very thin (wear rubber gloves)

• Garnish: Thai basil, mint, or coriander sprigs

preparation

Make marinade:

Thinly slice lower 6 inches of lemongrass stalks, discarding remainder of stalks. In a food processor or blender finely grind together sliced lemongrass and garlic. Add remaining marinade ingredients and blend well.

In a large resealable plastic bag combine marinade and steak and seal bag, pressing out excess air. Marinate steak, chilled, turning bag once or twice, at least 4 hours or overnight.

In a large bowl soak noodles in hot water to cover 15 minutes, or until softened and pliable.

Prepare grill (or preheat broiler). Bring a kettle of salted water to a boil for noodles.

Discard marinade and grill steak on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals 3 to 5 minutes on each side for medium-rare. (Alternatively, steak may be broiled on rack of a broiler pan about 3 inches from heat about same amount of time.) Transfer steak to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes.

While steak is cooking, drain noodles in a colander and cook in boiling water 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until just tender. In a colander drain noodles and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain noodles well.

In a large bowl toss noodles with herbs and half of nuoc cham. Divide cucumber among 4 bowls or plates and top with noodles. Sprinkle each serving with 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons rice powder. Thinly slice steak on the diagonal and divide among noodles, mounding it. Sprinkle chilies over each serving and garnish with herb sprigs. Serve remaining nuoc cham on the side.

Nuac Cham Dressing

This recipe is used to prepared Grilled Lemongrass Beef and Noodle Salad.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

ingredients

• 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (preferably nuoc mam)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 garlic clove, forced through a garlic press
• 2 small thin fresh red or green Asian chilies (1 to 2 inches long) or serrano chilies, seeded and chopped fine (wear rubber gloves)

preparation

In a small bowl stir together all ingredients until sugar is dissolved.

Breakfast Pizza

Breakfast pizza with bacon-and-onion jam, bacon, country ham, mozzarella, peas, and runny eggs.

I haven't been blogging much lately: the snow gods are smiling on Colorado for the first time in three seasons, and this is the busiest time of year at school. I've made some awesome dinners lately (most notably, I drastically improved my pad thai recipe) but was too caught up to grab the camera. As much as I love powder weekends and long, productive teaching days, life has been a little fast-paced for my tastes lately. 

So to remedy that, Adam and I today practiced one of our relationship traditions--the Lazy Day. 

When we were first dating, we spent several Saturdays drinking Bloody Mary's, eating really stellar breakfast burritos, watching The Wire, and taking naps. And that was it, all day. I was delighted to have found a man as lazy and hedonistic as me--someone who would spend a whole day on the couch and genuinely enjoy himself, not wring his hands or chastise himself about it ("waah, I didn't go to the gym!") 

It was love.

So today, we slept in till nine and spent the day watching House of Cards season 2. Adam made his excellent bloodies and I made Breakfast Pizza, entirely out of ingredients already in the house, so as not to exhaust myself by walking to the store for burrito stuff. 

This recipe would be easy to recreate, except for the bacon-and-onion jam. I made this awhile ago to go with some pate--it was sitting in the fridge. Other than that, should be pretty easy. 

Bacon-and-onion jam. From when I made it a couple weeks ago. 

Ingredients
1 batch of pizza dough
(note--I made mine from scratch in the morning. It really tastes better if you allow it to rise overnight, as suggested in the recipe above. Or you can buy (Wholefoods always has fresh pizza dough) or even use a mix. Who cares? It's a lazy day)
1.5 cups of bacon-and-onion jam
(note--you probably don't have this. You could make it, OR you could a. Use any kind of jam you have--a chutney or savory jam would work well b. Use canned pizza sauce c. Use nothing--brush the dough with olive oil and garlic d. Use slices of tomatoes)
1 package pre-shredded mozzarella
6 slices of bacon, crisped
3-5 slices of ham, cut into ribbons
1/2 cup of frozen peas (corn would also be delish)
3-4 eggs
oil, salt, pepper

What to do 
Make the dough. Or buy it.
Pre-heat the oven to 550 degrees.
Spread the dough as thin as possible by stretching it out. You want it as thin as you can possibly get it without tearing.
Spread the jam over the dough.
Sprinkle on the cheese.
Sprinkle on the bacon and ham.
Sprinkle on the peas and press gently into the dough.
Bake at 550 for about six minutes, or until just turning brown and cheese is melted.
Take the pizza out and turn the oven to broil. Break the eggs onto the pizza. Place under the broiler for about two minutes--whites should be opaque and cooked, yolks should be runny.
Sprinkle kosher salt onto the eggs.
Slice and serve!

Here is a version I made without eggs--we ended up having it for dinner. 

Raw pizza before baking. 

Adam enjoying breakfast pizza--got a little black on the edges...

This was BOMB. And so it season 2 of House of Cards. And so is spending a whole day on the couch with two tiny dogs and my love. 

Enjoy! 

Duck Prosciutto

Home-cured duck prosciutto 

My brother bought me a very exciting cookbook for Christmas:

This book is all about preserved meats--pate, sausages, confit, salami, etc--types of foods you'd never consider making at home, mostly because the idea of aging meat in your house sounds icky or potentially dangerous to a reasonable person.
I, however, have a cavalier attitude towards germs--I've enjoyed ceviche purchased on the street in El Salvador and live to tell that harrowing tale--and the thought of creating these kind of delicious, salty, fatty delicacies at home was wildly thrilling. I read the whole book cover to cover, like a novel. And I had to try my hand at Charcuterie as soon as possible. I've made confit, pate, and rillettes previously, always to spectacular results--so this time I wanted something new. Duck prosciutto was one of the simplest recipes in the book--and DUCK PROSCIUTTO? Duck in the style of cured, dried pork? I had to try it.
The recipe is simple:

HOW TO MAKE DUCK PROSCIUTTO: Pack one duck breast in kosher salt, cover and refrigerate 24 hours.  Remove from salt, rinse it, dry it, wrap in cheesecloth and hang for a week or so.  A general rule is dry-cured products are done when they lose 30% of their weight.

I bought a package of four duck breasts. I decided to make one breast (2 lobes) plain, no seasonings, and to make one with a rub of garlic and bay leaves. 

Fresh duck breasts. 

Duck breasts about to cure in kosher salt for 24 hours. 

Removing the duck from the salt a day later. 

I hung these to age in our basement--cheesecloth was hard to find (they didn't have it at Alberton's) so I cut up some of Adam's old shirts and used those. 

Coming soon to an app plate in Denver!

This turned out delish--if you like salty, meaty, gamey things--which I very much do. The layer of fat is meltingly soft, the meat is chewy and deeply ducky. I sliced some as thin as possible and ate it with some cheese and pickled sweet onions. Just perfect. 

And now I have four big lobes of duck prosciutto, waiting for the perfect occasion. 

Enjoy!

Oven "Fried" Chicken and Collard Greens

A crunchy, juicy oven-fried chicken thigh. 

I was surprised at how fantastically this recipe turned out--I've made fried chicken before (for a chicken-and-waffles party) but never baked "fried" chicken. I invented the recipe, basically just doing everything the same as I would for fired chicken but subbing baking for frying.
It was GREAT. The outside was crunchy and salty, the inside juicy and perfect. Plus, the recipe is really easy and far less messy than frying chicken on the stove.
To go with, I made collard greens--a delicious, super easy side that braises for the hour when the chicken's baking.

Oven "Fried" Chicken

Ingredients
6 chicken thighs (or a whole cut-up chicken). Make sure it's on the bone, with skin.
1 cup lowfat cultured buttermilk
5 cloves of garlic
juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
2 teaspoons of cajun seasoning (or just salt and pepper if you don't have it)
2 cups Panko bread crumbs
a little bit of olive oil for greasing the pan

What to do
Combine the buttermilk, garlic, lemon juice, paprika and cajun seasoning (or salt and pepper) in the blender. Blitz it up to combine.
Place the chicken thighs in a bowl and cover them with the buttermilk mixture. Allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes, or up to overnight.

Marinating chicken

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a baking pan or cookie sheet.
Pour the breadcrumbs into a bowl. Dredge each chicken thigh in the breadcrumbs, covering completely.
Place skin-side up on the greased baking sheet. I like to tuck the skin underneath, forming a little roll.

Before

Bake at 375 for about an hour--until skin looks golden brown and feels crisp when you poke it.

After

I like my fried chicken drizzled with hot sauce and honey.

Collard Greens

Ingredients 
2 bags of cut, cleaned collard greens (available by the bags of salad in all grocery stores)

I buy pre-cut bags like this 

4 strips of bacon

1 red onion, diced 

water

salt

1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar 

1/8 cup packed brown sugar

What to do 
Dice the bacon and add it to the bottom of a large pot with a lid. Fry the bacon until crispy. Add the diced onion and cook for a couple minutes in the bacon fat.
Add the greens and stir, coating the greens in the bacon fat. Cover the pot--the greens will reduce considerably.
Add about a quarter cup of water, a dash of salt, the vinegar and the sugar. Mix everything together.
Cover the pot and turn the heat to low. Cook gently for an hour.
Before serving, taste for salt and acid--add more salt / vinegar / sugar as needed.

Chicken and collard greens, with some leftover spicy corn relish. 

Enjoy!